EAST LANSING (WWJ) -- It appears that the "Larry Nasser documents", which have for years have been kept from survivors and the public, are about to be revealed.
The Michigan State University Board of Trustees voted unanimously on Friday to approve the release of thousands of pages of documents in the Nassar sexual abuse case that had previously been withheld by the board, citing attorney-client privilege as the reason.
Trustee Dan Kelly read a portion of the resolution, as follows:
"The Board of Trustees authorizes the Vice President for Legal Affairs and General Counsel to conduct and oversee the examination of documents identified in the privileged log created in the Attorney General's investigation, and release such documents to the Attorney General, subject to any appropriate redactions for information necessary to comply with and protect individual interests under the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act of 1974."
Five Nasser victims of the disgraced former doctor and their family members spoke at the start of the meeting, and again called on the board to release the documents.
The vote came after MSU hired a new president who is scheduled to start in March.
In a statement, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said MSU students, the university community at-large, and most importantly the victims of Nassar have long been owed this transparency.
“I am encouraged to see the MSU Board of Trustees finally make the right decision on a long-promised, and long-delayed, measure of transparency," Nessel said. "We appreciate the opportunity to review these documents and will reopen and expedite our investigation as soon as they are received.”
Nassar is currently a serving decades-long prison sentence on convictions in state and federal court. He admitted to sexually assaulting young athletes when he worked at MSU and for USA Gymnastics. Separately, Nassar pleaded guilty to possessing child pornography.
More than 150 victims spoke or submitted statements during a seven-day hearing more than four years ago.